Gibson goes West

Blower in October

2006-10-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

2 feet of fresh... Worked all day then headed out with my neighbor Steve for some sweet powder turns in Purple Palace. We set a skin track and then had a 1000 foot blank canvas to carve. I can't frickin' believe it is only October 18th and already my 2nd ski day of the season.

Here's Steve and his dog, Powder, breaking trail for a bit. Gibson was out of commission today after a short ski on Saturday when he busted up a toenail pretty bad (he's going to be very jealous of Powder when he sees these pics). The uphill was a little rough but we shared the trailbreaking and reached our highpoint in about 1.5 hours.

Oh sweet glorious powder turns. Worth the effort.

Let it snow...

2006-09-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Just a quick pic from 9/22 to show the snow.

More photos of a boy and his dog

2006-08-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

A boy and his dog

2006-07-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

Just some photos of Peter and Gibson

Outing day

2006-07-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Went to the lake with Grammy today and then dad took off for a 4 hour mtb ride.

Bringing him home

2006-07-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

I can still run a business from the hammock - he isn't going to cramp my style one bit.

Welcome home little dude!

Along came Peter

2006-07-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Some photos of the new guy...
Milk fed and lovin' it

Sneaking Gibson into Gunnison Valley Hospital

Going home

Hiking with the Goofball

2006-06-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Gibson and I went for a pretty long (12 mile) hike / climb yesterday. We headed out Oh-Be-Joyful Creek into the Raggeds Wilderness. We got kind of a late start but I still thought we might try to gain Oh-Be-Joyful Pass and if time and weather permitted try to summit on Richmond (about 12,500 ft). We made really good time getting up to Democrat basin in about 2.5-3 hours but were disappointed to see the pass trail covered in snow. Rather than risk a nasty fall (I was wearing glorified sneakers) on the exposed pass I decided to push as high on Richmond as possible before being turned back by snow. We got to within a couple of hundred feet of the summit, ate lunch, and then proceeded down. I decided to have a little fun on the way down so I took out my poncho, made a makeshift sled, and glissaded about 1000 or so feet back to the basin floor. Gibson thought this was for his benefit and tried to ride down on my head. Here's some pictures from our 5 hour day:

The mellow valley hike along OBJ Creek. Richmond is the rocky summit on the right in the distance.

Here's the view of Democrat Basin from its entrance.

Gibson enjoying the wildflowers in the basin. He probably hiked 5 times further than I did.

Looking South once we had entered the basin. The prominent rock peak is Garfield and the snow covered saddle to the right is Star Pass. I am planning on doing a loop over that once the snow melts.

A view of the summit of Richmond from our lunch spot and high point on the hike. Too much snow to make the summit without decent boots...Next time.

Emerald Lake

2006-06-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

Kim, Gibson, and I drove up to Schofield Pass yesterday because I wanted to show Kim Emerald Lake. It is a pretty wild place up near the alpine and is the starting point for the most famous CB ride called the 401. I had ridden the 401 on Sunday and saw the lake below me and wanted to show Kim. Anyhow, here are a couple of pics.

Gibson went swimming - what a surprise! The pass is the low saddle in the trees.

The lower flanks of Mt. Baldy still holding some snow.

Some pictures from a hike with Kim

2006-06-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Kim and I went for a nice walk to the falls on Oh-Be-Joyful Creek this am.

Gibson poised to chase a rock into the swift current at Gunsight Bridge

Kim and Peter at the middle stretch of the falls.

The trail out with a great view of the ski area peaking out from the trees (Yes it really is that steep).

Quick photos from a CB classic

2006-06-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

Went for what is considered one of the top ten rides here in CB yesterday. The ride is called the Deer Creek trail and is over 30 miles round trip. Went with a pretty large group and we made a day of it with 3+ hours of riding and then pulled straight into the Eldo for a little "stink and drink". Beer, the ultimate recovery drink. Anyhow it didn't seem to hurt as I did one of the best rides ever today. A two hour climb up to Doctor's Park followed by a solid hour of both buff and technical singletrack right back to the car. I am actually off to do a second ride today just because it is so damn beautiful out. Here's some photos from Deer Creek.

Views of Teocalli Mtn on the climb

The low saddle on the left below the dark forest is the top of the climb.

Looking across the East River Valley back to the ski area.

Something different every day

2006-06-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

Ok - sorry for the really long gap between posts. I won't say I've been busy just haven't dragged the camera along on any of my rides until today. I've ridden a different bike each day this week with a hard group ride Tues., solo mtn. bike ride yesterday, and a dirt road ride on my CX bike this afternoon. I rode up to Kebler Pass and Irwin Lake from town today after hiking all morning with our friend Mark from Salt Lake. Mark rode down here on his motorcycle yesterday and is on his way to Santa Fe tomorrow.

Here's Ruby and Owen (the mountains) from Irwin Lake. I am hoping to ski both in one day next week if I can convince my buddy Mike to join me when he gets back from Los Angeles.

Lots of ice still on the lake.

Sign at the summit of the pass.

Still too nice to rest

2006-05-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

After a full morning skiing on Thursday, an evening of yoga, a couple of hours riding dirt roads on Friday, and 3 hours of hilly mountain biking Saturday, I called my buddy Jay to see if he wanted to ski the next peak south from our Thursday ascent. Sure enough he was game so we were off at 5 am today to summit and ski Augusta. We figured on a slightly shorter ascent (Augusta is a little more than 12,500 ft while Purple is just shy of 13K) so we slept an extra hour. That put us at the trailhead around 5:30 and we easily summitted by 9.

The snow bridges are getting a little thin making for some interesting approach marches

We had been following deer tracks almost the whole way. As I came around a small knob I had six deer run out in front of me and cross over to Angel Pass (the saddle in the upper left of the picture). You can just barely see the deer above the rock band marching in a line. Right after they crossed to the pass 4 more deer ran out in front of us.

There's the foreshortened summit still about an hour away. Our route took us up to the left hand ridge just at the base of the large rocky area. From there it was a ten minute scramble along the ridge to the summit.

Each step towards the summit gets harder and harder. Here's Jay suffering just below the final snowslope leading to the summit ridge.

The obligatory summit photo with the Elk Mountains in the background (Aspen is just 18 miles behind me) and me sporting the short sleeves. It was a warm day even by 9 am and we quickly clicked into our bindings for the descent. The first 1500 ft were perfect peel away corn on the south facing aspects. Our descent route took a slight turn eastward which meant much softer snow particularly the top 4 inches because of a little downpour last night. It almost felt like powder skiing despite the fact that we had to work pretty hard to keep our skis tracking. Our final shot on the descent was through a tight little chute about 300 feet long with a nice sustained 40 degree pitch. The walk out was beautiful with the sun shining, sandals on my feet, and cool snowmelt running through my toes. Back at the car I soaked my aching shins in the river and then drove home for pizza and beer.

We do more by 9 am than most people do in a day

2006-05-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 3:30 am yesterday to go skiing with my neighbor Jay. We drove out of town by 4 and headed up Slate River to park at the trailhead by the old Pittsburgh minesite about 10 miles outside of town. When we got to the trailhead we found two very fast moving streams had washed away the bridge and it was going to be impossible to cross on foot. We decided to drive my truck throught the rushing water on a jeep road next to the trail. I was pretty nervous about the depth so I had Jay lean out the passenger side door with a ski pole to probe for the depth. The water was moving pretty fast and eventually came up to the top of the wheel well but we were able to cross after an adrenaline producing few moments. From the jeep road we began our four hour ascent of Purple Mountain, which is a very steep and pointed peak that dominates the drive into town. After a couple of hours of skinning we began to get great views of the summit.
Here we are about 2 hours shy of the summit. Our ascent route took us to the base of the summit pyramid and then we took off our skis and front pointed and kicked steps in our ski boots up to the rocky ridge on the looker's right.
Here's Jay skinning up to me just before we popped off our skis to begin the hairy 50 degree front point to the ridge. After we gained the ridge we had about 20-30 minutes of a class 4 scramble through the first band of rocks. Then we had to cross the snow slope below the ridge because the cornice was huge. Crossing the slope was a little burly with about 900 ft of exposure above some gnarly rocks and chutes. A fall would have been pretty bad and Jay nearly went over backwards when he reached the next rock band because he punched through some pretty rotten snow. After that little bit of exposure it was an easy 5 minutes to the summit where we had some snacks and waited for the sun to soften the snow for our descent.
Here's the obligatory summit photo. The first few turns were a little unsteady for me as I haven't been on skis since March and the slope was super steep. After getting my skis under me we cut skiers left across the face to the rock band in the middle looker's right of the summit pyramid. We skied the line through the chute in the middle of the rock band. It was about 5 good turns of 45-50 degree tight chute skiing that opened up into the huge bowl we had skinned up. After about a good 3000 plus vertical feet of descending we were back at the truck. I was a little concerned about the stream crossing because the snowmelt had already begun even at such an early hour. Going back across the stream the water came up over the hood of the truck and scared us witless but we made it out ok. We were back in town in no time and having breakfast at the Paradise Cafe when most people were still waking up.

Gibson's New Routine

2006-05-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Our day usually starts with a cup of coffee from Camp 4 and then it is time for some exercise.

There are about five rivers that drain into the valley here. They are running pretty swiftly this time of year. Gibson will not be denied his swimming. Most days Gibson follows me on my bike the 10 blocks or so over to what is known as the Lower Loop. From the start of the loop we can easily access the slate river for some swimming. Here are some photos from the river bank.

The cool thing is that the ridge behind us on the right is actually called Gibson Ridge.

The views of the ski area are pretty lame.

Mother's Day Mtn Bike

2006-05-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

The snow is finally melting off some of the trails around CB allowing a couple of rides to open. I rode up to the mountain to do the Upper Loop. It turned out the whole Upper Upper Loop was clear all the way to Brush Creek so I rode that then climbed back up Whetstone Vista for a challenge. Re-rode the Upper Loop in reverse then turned around and came back down Tony's to town. Click for ride description.

Here's the trailhead in Mt. Crested Butte. Just a little bit of climbing before an awesome downhill with switchbacks.

One of the many views of Whetstone. This is from just above the Brush Creek drainage.

The beginning of the descent into Brush Creek.

Wildlife ride

2006-05-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

I went out for a 4 hour ride this morning. Basically, I took the out and back option (really the only choice if I ride from town). I cruised down to Gunnison fighting an unusual headwind from the South. I rode down the highway a little past Almont where I took some county roads that bypass the highway and are really quite beautiful. Gunnison is a ranching community and the county roads roll through a lot of different ranches. I headed West from Gunnison and looped out to Hartman rocks and then back towards Almont. On my way through Gunnison one of the ranches had a bunch of sheep that got loose and were milling about in the road. As I neared the center of Almont a coyote stopped in the middle of the road about 100 ft from me and proceeded to stare me down. He was about Gibson's size and after a few moments he moved off the road and just kind of watched me ride by. Once in Almont I turned up Taylor Canyon and cruised up to Jack's Cabin cutoff (dirt road steep climb) and on back towards town. I was fortunate that the headwind I had fought southwards decided to turn around and become a steady 20-30 mph headwind coming from the North. There's nothing quite like putting out nearly 300 watts and riding 10 mph. To break up my suffering I had a golden eagle rise up out of the scrub and literally fly right out in front of me. I have never seen the markings on the topside of a raptor's wings before. Now I know where all the Southwestern Native American artwork comes from. Very cool.

Lots of things going on

2006-05-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

Again my posting has been sparse but I've been pretty busy lately. On Monday I decided to see if I could get a consulting business going from out here in the Butte so I basically spent the day networking. It actually went pretty well so I decided to incorporate my own business. That was Tuesday. My new company is called Axtell Consulting Group, LLC. Mount Axtell is an awesome backcountry skiing area up by Kebler Pass overlooking town. Basically, I will be drumming up some business via my East Coast contacts over the next few weeks. I don't really want to go into too many details here but things look promising.

This morning I was invited to the CB Rotary Club's weekly breakfast meeting so I went up to the resort for the meeting. I think I will follow in Mr. Prescott's footsteps and become a full fledged Rotarian. I know I should be leery about joining any organization that admits Wayne but they do a lot of good work.

Went for another hard group ride tonight out of Gunnison. A couple of local pros showed up as well as Dave Wiens so the pace was pretty brutal at times. We did a loop that included the dirt road climb I rode last week so that's where I got shelled. I took a few chances on the downhill and reeled in a few people but if it weren't for a regroup I would have been in the grupetto. The road riding out here is not half bad despite a lack of variety - there's something to be said for the incredible scenery (hell, I'd be happy riding my trainer just staring up at these mountains). One of these days I am going to ride right off the road gawking at the amazing views.

The West is the Best

2006-05-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

So we're still unpacking, organizing, and generally drowning in boxes, paper, and used tape. Fortunately, half our day is spent outside in the most beautiful place on Earth. I woke up this morning really wanting to go for a mountain bike ride but didn't really feel tackling Hartman's Rocks on my own without a map. I spent the morning organizing my garage and while I was out there our neighbors Tim and Ann asked if I wanted to join them for an afternoon ride in Hartman's. Obvious answer... We piled into Ann's truck and drove down to Gunnison and headed out into the sage around 2. We got in a coulple of hours of awesome singletrack and really wild slickrock sections. Hartman's is huge and very Moab like in a lot of places.

Moving Day II

2006-05-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

So anyway, after laying around in the front yard for awhile, I decided I was darn bored and played tug with my leash. Mom and Dad thought this was funny. I couldn't figure out what they were laughing at. ?

Then I just conked out.

And to think, I was so excited to come back inside. At least they got me a nifty new chin rest. (You can click on the picture to see it better.)

What the hell happened to my playspace? This is not good. Can you even see me? Mommy kept calling me "Waldo," whatever that means. Later on in the evening, Mom and Dad cleared some more space for me, and then they took me to get burritos, so that was cool. At least I got a little bit of burrito for my efforts all day long. It was hard work supervising all these men in and out of my house. Hey, Mommy kept talking about some "Peter" who was kicking her all day. I didn't see anyone...does anyone else know what she's talking about?

Moving In Day

2006-05-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our official "moving in day," when the giant 18 wheeler powered through CB to park on most of the street out front. I think it took about 2 hours for them to get everything in. Benn might have something to write later about the guy who didn't speak English and his apparent understanding that "this goes in the kitchen" means "please put this big heavy box as far back in the 2nd bedroom upstairs as possible so I will have lots of fun moving it downstairs later." We found several such misplaced boxes. But here is what happened from Gibson's perspective, who was a real champ through much of the day.

The day started out great--Mommy and Daddy let me wing my rubber ball around in the house (usually a big no-no)--because there is no furniture!

Then Mommy found me outside looking awesome in front of Dad's bike, so she decided to get a picture. Aren't I so cute?

And then the fun began. A giant truck drove up, obscuring my view entirely, and, to top off the annoyance, Mom and Dad actually had the nerve to tie me up! Granted, I was whining so loudly in the side yard, they really had no choice but to pay attention to me. And they kept giving me treats. And petting me. Ok, so maybe it wasn't so bad. Stay tuned for more pics...

Odds and Ends

2006-05-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting for a couple of days but I got wrapped up in a book and lost track of the days. Tues and Wed were mostly filled with errands like getting our licenses, getting Gibson his, and joining a gym. The gym has some great Yoga for Kim and lots of spinning options for me. I went riding both days with last night's ride being a shop ride out of Gunnison. It was really fast paced and basically as competitive as the EBCC Wed rides. There were a couple of local pro mountain bikers, some top flight adventure racers, and a couple of other ex-racers. It was another beautiful ride up yet another canyon but I couldn't really focus on the scenery as we were basically in race mode. After the ride I headed back to CB for fish tacos at Teocalli Tamale where I am already on a first name basis with the staff. Today I am off the bike and will try to get in a nice hike with Gibson and some pics.

Home Sweet Home

2006-05-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

420 Whiterock Ave in Crested Butte, CO. Technically we are now second home owners. Fingers crossed that this is our only home after Wed evening. Kim's car is parked in front after a 2500 mile journey on the back of the car carrier - if only our damn movers drove as fast as the car guy. We won't have any of our stuff until Friday which means my whole weekend is shot in terms of extended riding.

As soon as we moved in I actually had work to do for my old company back in Hartford. Trust me when I say the view is much better from my perch in our new family room than from my 20th floor rat cage. In case you're wondering the old owners left the couch, coffee table, and carpet amongst other items.

Here's Gibson relieved to be in his new pad and not in yet another hotel room or back seat of the truck. He immediately stole Kim's seat and lazed away the afternoon in the shadow of Mt. Crested Butte.

Tomorrow we will get our new drivers licenses and cars registered as well as our phone and internet (I am piggybacking on some random WiFi right now). The satellite guy came a day early and installed our dish but we have no TVs until the movers show up so it is books and internet radio for entertainment until then.

Road Rides that Don't Suck

2006-04-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

After a long week in the car I was finally free to do a nice long ride. I decided to go for about 4 hours or so from town down to the town of Almont up to Taylor Resevoir and back. I had no clue what the ride from Almont to Taylor was like so I was just going to take it easy knowing the whole ride is above 8000ft. Turns out it was the most scenic ride I have ever done with a long steady climb (20 miles) from Almont up through Taylor Canyon to the Resevoir. These are some shots I took from the canyon.

Coming back down would have been fast except for a really stubborn headwind so I'll have to go back again to satisfy my speed jones.
After descending for about 14 miles I took a right onto a forest service road for a 2 mile dirt climb and short cut back to Rt. 135 and the 12 mile trip back to CB. This was the view looking back down the climb. The final 12 miles were sheer misery with a 30-40 mph headwind and steady uphill back to town.

After the ride Kim and I went for lunch a Pitas in Paradise and we will have our walkthrough in another hour. I'll post more afterwards.

Santa Fe to CB

2006-04-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

We spent the night in Santa Fe at the Eldorado Inn and Spa which was the most dog friendly place we've ever been. Gibson was treated better than we were with a constant supply of treats and endless petting by staff which made it tough to get through the lobby. Here's Gibson hamming it up for the crew.

Just a random shot from historic downtown Santa Fe taken before we pulled out of town and headed to our new home.

Views of Mt. Crested Butte taken from the car (never mind the pregnant woman hanging out the passenger window) a few miles South of town.

2500 miles later and we still aren't finished. It is going to take us two days to travel the block and a half to our new house. Stay tuned for photos from the walk through.

Some Pics of Gibson that Kim Wants Posted

2006-04-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Oklahoma City and Beyond

2006-04-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

After leaving Graceland we beelined for OK City to visit the new National Memorial at the bomb site. Pictures don't do the memorial justice and I would encourage everyone to visit this site. It is every bit as poignant as the Vietnam Memorial but even more so because of the chairs representing the children killed. The site is set into the remains of the foundation of the Murrah building and you can pretty much walk anywhere within the memorial grounds. One thing that astounded me was the sheer destructive force of the blast. There were so many buildings (literally dozens) damaged by the blast that had to be torn down that the whole downtown are is revitalized, clean, and brand new.
The memorial itself is so striking and elegant with 2 large gates inscribed with the time before and after the blast standing at each end of a large reflecting pool. On the site of the building sits the more than 200 chairs inscribed with the name of each victim (the smaller chairs are the children).

We spent the night a couple of hours West of the city near the Texas border and made our way to Santa Fe today but not before viewing the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere (not that impressive compared to the giant wind farms across OK, TX, and NM). More pics from Santa Fe tomorrow - provided we have internet access in Crested Butte.

Elvis Lives

2006-04-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

So being the huge Elvis dork that I am, I woke early and joined the faithful for the 7:30 pre-opening of the gates to Graceland and the solemn walk to his gravesite and meditation garden. Women were literally crying and reaching out to touch his tombstone while grown men delivered roses and handwritten notes. The mansion didn't open until 9 but Kim and I went to get tickets when the office opened at 8:30 because the lines were going to be huge. Basically the place is nearly as crowded as Disneyworld in about 1/167th of the space and even with our early arrival we only managed to score the fourth tour of the day. Before we headed out on the tour bus I stocked up on my Elvis kitsch and will take a picture with it on sometime in the next few days. The mansion is kitschy enough and here are some photos from inside.

Elvis' wall of late 70's hits (formerly a racquetball court)

Funky table monkey in the TV room

Furry chair in the jungle room (the carpet covered the ceiling too)

After Graceland we loaded up the truck and headed out to Oklahoma...

The road to Elvis

2006-04-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

I am going to break up our last few days into separate posts to keep them somewhat coherent. On Tuesday the 25th we headed out from Canton, CT and made our way to Kim's sister's house in Purcellville, VA. Along the way we stopped at Gettysburgh for an abbreviated auto tour around the battlefield. I can only imagine the utter horror of the battle that took place. The scale was utterly unbelievable. We snapped a few photos including this highly sarcastic one...

After a night of Mexican food and playtime with our niece, Kate, and nephew, Asher, we woke early for the twelve hour trip to Memphis. The ride South through the Shenandoah was pretty spectacular and very reminiscent of Southern VT. The ride through Tennessee was also quite pretty and much more enjoyable than the run through Western PA and Ohio that we would have had to endure going the Northern route. We arrived in Memphis only to discover that Graceland is pretty much smack dab in the ghetto and didn't offer a lot of dining options. We were too tired to drive downtown to Beale street for BBQ and instead settled for road food of the Taco Bell variety (yuck) and a restless nights sleep waiting for Graceland to open.

Out of gas

2006-01-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

My tank is empty, my shins are bruised, my feet are battered and swollen, and my skis are in need of their fourth stone grind in 3 weeks. I've reached the limit of how much skiing, hiking, cliff jumping, and general mayhem my body can handle. My timing couldn't be better as we are soon to be on our way back East. This is my last post from CB and I am packing away the computer. There's not much more to say at this point except that we are really going to miss it here.

One Last Rawhide With A Friend

2006-01-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

Sadly, it is the day before we leave, and it was yet another great time. On the way back from taking Gibson for his morning stroll, G and I ran into Lisa and Bode, and Lisa offered to take Gibson on a poop loop with Bode. She was cross country skiing it, so I figured what the heck. Of course G is such a momma's boy that he had to look back at me at least 15 times, kind of to make sure it was ok, but he eventually went and had a great morning. He came home and hung out with Bode for a while, and then he crashed. I then had lunch in town with my new neighbor and friend, Paulette. A fitting last day to an incredible, life-changing 3 weeks.

Here is a picture of Gibson and Bode at their "last supper" of rawhide together after their excursion. Until we meet again!

Playgroup With Mommy

2006-01-27T18:06:00.000-08:00

Just as I was leaving at around 10 a.m. to take the G-monster for another big snowshoe hike, his friend Bode walked by with Lisa, and, of course, I couldn't resist taking the B-man with us, especially since Lisa was headed up to ski for the afternoon and Bode would have been in his crate--he's only 7 mos. old. So I and the two boys (both of them jostling for the best position in the passenger seat, both with their big block heads out the same window) went on up to the Slate River Road trail in the bright sunshine and had a great old time. Here are some photos of our journey...

Soft Snow and Lots of Sun

2006-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

Pretty much describes 2/3 of the trip...

I went up to the hill first thing and pretty much skied another full day. I met up with a long time local (30+ years) and he showed me a few new lines on the mountain. My legs were (are) pretty spent by mid afternoon so I made my way back to town and ran a few errands before our last day. The snow is coming down now so I am hoping for a final powder day before we load up the truck and head back East. I guess I am running out of things to write about and really don't feel like leaving here. Oh well I guess you can only live a dream for a few weeks at a time and then it is upside the head with the cold dead fish of reality.

Mmmmm Powder and Burritos

2006-01-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

We got a couple of inches overnight and then the skies really opened up during the day. It was a great day on the hill and it was also empty. I made many laps in many places with many first tracks.

After a good day on the slopes Kim and I went out for mega burritos at Teocalli Tamale. We've only been here 3 weeks but we're already getting the local's discount.

Small world note: The kid behind the counter is from Litchfield, his name is Pete and he is a graduate of Litchfield High and knows one Mr. Wayne Prescott. At least he knows of Wayne's fondness for bike riding.

And MY Day...

2006-01-25T15:17:00.001-08:00

Far from being the backcountry adventurer these days, I decided to set my sights a little more low-key. At around 9, I walked over to the Alpineer and rented some cross country skis and poles. I figure, there's the actual poop loop that I can't take Gibson on unless I have the xc skis, so today was the day. Aside from the skis being cumbersome as all hell to carry (I'm used to the brakes on Alpine skis that prevent them from sliding around), I enjoyed it. It was a very sunny day (but what else is new) and the temp was actually in the low 30's, so Gibson and I worked up quite a sweat. We did about 10K. I think Gibson is out for the night. Boy has he had a great vacation. :)

Epic Tour

2006-01-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

I woke early as I had planned a day in the backcountry with a new friend, Davis, from town. We picked up a third, Ryan, when his planned companions were no shows. Davis and I had been planning on skiing the North Face of Mt Emmons, which required staging a car one valley over from the trailead on the South side. After shuttling the cars, the three of us departed from the trailhead around 8:30 or so. The skin up to our intended ski route was the same as the one I did to Red Lady Bowl a week and a half ago. The trip up was uneventful and we probably gained the summit ridge in about 2 hours or so. It was a little windy and cold up there so we decided to ski part of the route and then break for lunch. The turns down the North facing aspect (Redwell Basin) were pretty soft with just the slightest wind crust for the first few hundred feet. After skiing about a thousand vertical we stopped and reapplied our skins for a short 400 ft climb up and around the basin to get into another basin for some more turns. After the climb we broke for lunch above Wolverine Bowl which is an amazing natural feature. We soaked up the sun for about 20 minutes and then dove into the trees and skied out 2400 vertical feet to the valley floor. Once we hit the valley we had to cross the Slate River and then skate out nearly 2.5 miles to the car along the unplowed road. After we had collected our various vehicles we went out for gyros and beer at Pitas in Paradise. Another good day here in the valley.

Some photos from Snodgrass

2006-01-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Weekend recap and then some

2006-01-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

The reason I have not posted much lately is because I have been immersed in avalanche education. I finally got around to taking my level 1 avalanche from the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education. The course was supposed to be one evening classroom session and 2 days of hands-on backcountry sessions. Well, the Crested Butte Mountain Guides who put on the course really weren't quite truthful about the classroom time. There ended up being 11 hours of classroom time instead of the 3 that were advertised. The only thing worse than sitting through 11 hours of class time is sitting through those same hours with a bunch of idiots. It was bad enough that I had nearly as much backcountry experience as some of the instructors but that they treated me like I was one of the drooling morons I was sitting with was worse. Anyhow, the class was repetitive and while I did pick up a few things it wasn't until Sunday afternoon that I really got to go out, dig a snowpit, check stability, and do a mini-tour. I generally like to ski with no more than 1 or 2 people in the backcountry and we must have had a group of 16. It was such a fuster cluck and I am glad I finally got level 1 out of the way. Level 2 should actually be a lot more interesting and should focus solely on snow metamorphism and not on idiot simple things like how to turn on your avalanche beacon. I am pretty confident that out of the 20+ people taking the class only 2 of us even knew how to use our beacons. I was assigned to do beacon practice with this one guy and the drill was to uncover a buried beacon in less than 2 minutes (kind of like high tech hide and seek). This really isn't that hard and most of us who ski regularly in the backcountry can uncover 3 buried beacons in under 5 minutes in a search space equal to 3 football fields. Well this guy I was partnered with couldn't uncover 1 beacon in under 15 minutes which is pretty much the last point at which buried victims can be found alive. Needless to say I will never enter the backcountry with that guy.

Ok enough ranting. I am pretty tired from the weekend but I did go up to get some turns in at the resort today. The skiing is definitely less than stellar as we have had nothing but sun and really cold temps the last few days. There should be some snow coming during the midweek but I will probably head out to the backcountry to get some fresh turns in. By the way this is just Western skiing snobbery, Eastern skiers would think the skiing is unbelievable. Suckers.

T-minus-14 and counting

2006-01-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

The title of this post references the amount of hours until I am officially 34 years old. However, it could also be referencing the early morning temperatures we've had in the past 2 days. Oh wait, it was yesterday that was in the balmy teens-below-zero range. This morning it was downright cold at minus 24. I'm hoping that it is closer to the plus side when I take the boy out for his midday stroll. He, of course, is completely oblivious to the fact that the fallen snow is now forming curious-looking ice crystals on top, Mommy is walking very slowly, and no one really seems in the mood to run around and play...but oh well. The life of a Lab is never boring. I have some other pics of the G-monster, but they're trapped on Benn's computer; I'll try and get them up later on. Speaking of Benn, he is on Day 2 of his avy-savvy class, getting his Level 1 Certification, but he probably should have just gone to Level 2 because he can basically teach this one. It's not easy being smarter than your average bear. The other thing is that he will totally miss the Steelers game today. But, hey. I didn't sign him up for the thing.

Not much on the plan list today. I was going to ski, but I have a feeling that the snow is no better than it was on Friday, and that wasn't too fun. It's Sunday, the playoffs are on, I have plenty of microwave popcorn on hand...what more could a gal ask for? Well, besides a dog that can go to the bathroom in the toilet.

Images from Yesterday

2006-01-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

Here's the photos of Bode and Gibson. I'll blog about the 15 hours of avalanche education I have been sitting through later.

Dog Day Afternoon

2006-01-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

The new snow never materialized overnight and it got pretty clear and cold. Kim and I went up to the mountain in the morning but the skiing was less than stellar (even the day old powder felt like skiing on styrofoam) so we came back around noon. I guess we are getting pretty spoiled when a soft snow day under blue skies can be disappointing.

Our neighbor in town has a 7 month old lab puppy named Bode who was cratebound all day so I told her we would take him out when we took Gibson out in the afternoon. I have some photos I'll post tomorrow as my connection kind of sucks right now.

Sweet Powder

2006-01-19T18:08:00.000-08:00

7-10 inches fell on the mountain overnight with showers continuing all day. I had to get up to the mountain early to pick up my skis at the shop (second full tune in a week - this place is murder on skis) and check in at the Adaptive Ski Center regarding volunteering with their community program today. They had a cancellation so they didn't need me in the morning and told me to check back around 1 for afternoon lessons. I was super psyched because I didn't want to spend the deepest powder day so far skiing groomers behind a sit-ski. I got on line really early and met up with the guy I skied with yesterday and a couple of his friends. All were longtime locals, former racers, and really hard core. We basically ripped huge lines all morning getting fresh tracks until noon. We skied a bunch of major cliff areas airing out all kinds of crazy sh*t. Today was by far the best ski day of the trip and one of my top 10 ski days of all time. In the afternoon I helped out with a lesson at the adaptive center. The client was a big guy with Muscular Dystrophy who could only really steer his bi-ski by leaning from side to side so the instructor is tethered to the ski and is responsible for controlling the speed of what is essentially a sled. I also skied with a partially paralyzed sit skier who uses outriggers to steer and steady himself. That dude ripped big time and was a blast to ski powder lines with. He kept getting face shots because he is only two feet off the ground. I learned a lot and can't wait to begin getting my Level 1 Adaptive Instructors certification. I need to get some sleep as it may be another big powder day tomorrow and I have an evening avalanche class too.

Hump Day

2006-01-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

I guess I am not so removed from reality that I don't know what day of the week it is. Today was another full ski day on soft snow (inch or two fell overnight). I learned a new area of the mountain today called Fredo's which is primarily a cliff area. It is kind of a hidden entrance to some really sweet skiing but requires 20-80 ft mandatory airs to get in. I met a local blacksmith named Ben Eaton who toured me into there. Ok enough about the skiing. Here is a picture of Gibson from our backcountry venture on Saturday that I didn't post.

Busy Day

2006-01-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

Today was my first down day in terms of skiing but was pretty active otherwise. Kim and I had a bunch of stuff to do regarding our new townhouse including contracts and financing. Before we knew it it was 2:30 and the day was more than half over. We met a bunch of great people today and are really feeling settled in. Right now Kim is getting involved with an open space committee in terms of consulting for fundraising. She is having a meeting in our dining room right now. What a super comfortable place to be.

I have a dream...

2006-01-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

Actually I am living the dream but thought I would make a little allusion to MLK day. Today was by far the most crowded day on the mountain with a good covering of fresh snow and some holiday traffic. I actually waited in a few short lines today but they were nothing compared to a typical weekend in Southern VT or even at Sundown. The skiing was super soft with plenty of fresh tracks to be found. I spent almost the entire day billy goating around the steep and technical terrain on the mountain. I put up one of the sickest lines I have ever done that involved a 20 foot cornice drop to a small ledge, a quick check/jump turn to access the chute, and then a 50 degree straightline all above a big ass cliff band. Serious no fall situation. Only Jackson Hole offers this kind of stuff in bounds and while Jackson is generally bigger with major consequences, the lines seem a little more technical here. All in all I spent a lot of time in the air today whether it was mandatory cliff drops or voluntary rock hits. Fun stuff but I will definitely feel it tomorrow (truth be told I am feeling it right now). I can't remember the last time I skied eight days straight although I did seven on my heli trip last year.

I guess the real news is not so much the skiing but more our real estate search. Kim and I found a duplex unit in town and we are putting it under contract tomorrow morning. It is not on the market and the situation is actually really sweet because we won't close for 4 months and then we will have it rented for most of the year. It is underpriced relative to the rest of the market here but needs no work, is furnished, and is right in the heart of town (sorry Wayne - it is kind of small so not ideal for the EBCC picnic). We'll post a picture later.

No Lombardi Trophy for Manning

2006-01-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

Today Kim and I met up with Kim's coworker's daughter, Chris, and her friend Anne. We skied for the morning, touring around the resort's more tame terrain. Chris and Anne were up for a little challenge just before lunch so Kim and I took them on a lightly gladed bump run. It was challenging for them but they both said it was fun so I'll believe them even though I bet they'll be cursing me as they nurse some sore thighs for the next day or so. Chris and Kim headed back to town around noon while Anne and I made a couple more runs including another difficult off piste trip from the North Face t-bar. Anne was a good sport and I'll give her big props for following me around the mountain. Anyway, we headed down to town around 1:30 and I had to hurry to meet Kim and hook up with the realtor.

We toured a few properties in Crested Butte South which is a little community about six miles outside of town. We also looked at a few pieces of land including one that we liked a lot. CB South is very different from town but is quite a bit more affordable so we wanted to explore some options down there. On the way back to town we stopped in to view one more place not far from where we're currently staying. I don't want to say too much but we liked it a lot and may have some more to post about it in the next few days.

Tomorrow is a powder day so don't expect any pictures or anything more than descriptions of sweet soft snow and epic runs.

Red Lady Goes Solo

2006-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

After six days of resort skiing it was time to take a trip to the backcountry. I haven't had much luck finding a backcountry partner so I decided to take Gibson and tackle Red Lady bowl on my own. Avalanche conditions were as stable as they get out here and with a storm coming in this was definitely my best shot at knocking this one off. We set off at 8:30 am from the winter parking area below Kebler Pass (closed in winter) and began the 3300 vertical foot ascent to the summit. The weather was perfect, no wind, and plenty of sun. By 10:30 we had gained the ridge leading to the summit and we're very close to treeline. We took a break and I snapped a few photos. The first is looking back down our ascent and the second is up to where we were headed.

From our rest stop it only took another 45 minutes to reach the summit where I snapped a few more photos. First is Gibson on the summit.

Next the obligatory self portrait.

And finally a look back towards town and the ski area.

After a brief rest I dropped into the bowl and cranked out a few turns in what was surprisingly soft and powdery snow. I was expecting serious wind and sun affect but found none. The turns were buttery all the way back down to the car. Here's a view just below the top.

And here's one of Gibson chasing me down a little bit lower.

With the sun so strong we made a beeline back to the car to avoid any potential wet slides and we're back at the house not long after noon.

Not a bad Friday the 13th

2006-01-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

I woke up feeling good this morning and decided to tag along with Benn for the morning. At first I thought it might have been a lousy idea b/c baby didn't seem to agree with what I had for breakfast, but too bad, the kid seemed to get over it (i.e., the nausea subsided), and off we went. Benn took me into some pretty nice tree lines today, and I skied them well. It helped that there was no one around, so it was very quiet. And the powder kept the skis from making that annoying, scratchy, "I'm skiing in the East" noise, which was extra cool. It was really sunny, too, so we're seriously working on the goggle-tan.

We stopped at around 11:45 so I could have my bagel and then we took off again, but only for a little bit. I was exhausted, and I needed to rest. Went back down on the bus--love the free shuttle--and forgot that I promised to make lasagna for dinner. After that was done, Benn came home and wanted to visit a realtor, so we walked up to town again and made an appt for tomorrow. Who knows what may come of it, but I think it'll be worth just getting to walk through some of the properties that are available. Although the little Victorian across the street may just be worth more than a walk-through...

I think I'll take it easy tomorrow and watch football until we talk to the Century 21 guy...there are some excellent games on. Benn may have a report from the backcountry if all goes according to plan.

My Skis Paid the Price

2006-01-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

Kim hates it when all I write about is skiing but it is hard to write about anything else when skiing is all I'm doing. So if you don't care about ski day details feel free to tune out.

The high pressure broke yesterday and a weak system moved in around midnight laying down 3-4 inches overnight. It was still coming down when I headed up to the mountain and the storm total was roughly 6 inches on the mountain. The sun broke through around mid-morning and it turned out to be a bluebird powder day. The skiing was excellent and alot of the lines I have been eyeing were finally good to go. I had a pretty mellow morning ripping some fresh lines with a couple of different locals I met. By the afternoon I was still searching for fresh tracks and having no trouble finding them. The place was empty. My favorite line in Teocalli was untouched so I tracked that and then made my way to the other side of the bowl to repeat a 20 footer I hit the other day. The snow had filled in the bowl so most of the skiing was knee deep. I hit a few more cliffs that I wanted to ski all week but needed some softer snow. For my last runs of the day I straightlined a sick chute in Teocalli and came out super hot (maybe 50+ mph) so I had to use up a lot of the bowl just to shed some speed. Then I popped over into the North Face and went into the cliff area to ski some super tight chutes. By that point my skis looked like they had been run over a cheese grater with mega core shots and munched edges. One more shot took me to a mandatory 15 foot air with a 40 ft straightline and then I called it a day. Dropped my skis at the shop for a tune and I hope to repeat tomorrow.

Mom to be Rips

2006-01-11T16:17:00.000-08:00

Not too much to say today so just some photos and captions.

Here's Kim 3 months pregnant after tearing up the upper Headwall:

Oh and here's Kim about to drop into Spellbound (did I mention she is with child?)

No sense taking it easy because of a little thing like an unborn child - so here's Kim on the hike out from Teocalli Bowl (I carried the skis - least I could do).

By the way, the liftlines are awful:

Almost Routine

2006-01-10T15:23:00.000-08:00

We got the water back around 3. Turns out the water main broke 1 block over and totally flooded out the street. That has got to suck since it was like -15 last night and I assume the place is a skating rink right now.

Basically another ski day for me and a rest and relaxation day for Kim. I took out my Alpine Touring setup for the afternoon. It is not quite as beefy as my downhill rig so it took a little getting used to in the steep terrain. I was definitely a bit beat from yesterday which was full of cliff hucks and a really nasty crash: I got cliffed out in a tree section which was basically a jumble of rocks with a bunch a trees sticking out. The rocks weren't visible as the 3 inches from the night before had covered them. I picked a line that required a 30 ft straightline and then a sharp left to clear the cliff and maybe a 10 ft air. Anyhow, I committed to the line, pointed my skis and hit a rock about 10ft into the straighline. I crashed hard and got pretty twisted up but managed to extricate myself and ski out the rest of the line to an audience of appreciative Aussies. But that was yesterday and thus why I was a little banged up today.

I mostly kept my skis on the ground today and just hiked around trying to find some soft snow. Conditions were ok and there was some nice, stiff, wind transported snow which allowed for some quality turns. I spent most of the day skiing Teocalli Bowl and hiking back out. Here is a picture I took standing above the final pitch before the boottrack back up and out.

Dry day?

2006-01-10T06:04:00.000-08:00

No running water this morning. I guess some guy from public works came by yesterday and told Kim they were going to do some work on the water mains and we would be without water just for yesterday afternoon. Everything seemed ok last night but it appears that we went dry about 2 hours ago. Oh well, I only had to walk 2 blocks to get my coffee and I will bike over to the market and buy a gallon or two in a few minutes so Gibson won't be thirsty and Kim and I can get rid of our morning breath.

Shin Bang on Day 2

2006-01-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

We woke to bluebird skies and 3 or so inches of fresh snow. Spent the day at the resort checking out more of the extreme terrain. For my first run I hooked up with a guy from Colorado Springs and we hiked out into Teocalli Bowl for some fresh tracks. He turned out to be from VT originally but has been out here for the last 20 years. I don't think anyone is actually from Colorado, they just move here from the Northeast. We basically ripped all morning until I met up with Kim at the base [narrator change] Hi, it's Kim, I've taken over for Benn because he is tired, and understandably so. I got up today and took Gibson to the Poop Loop for a while, where we met some lady from Tennessee and her dog, Hurley, although I thought she said his name was Hurl at first and called him that for a while. She probably thought I was a loon. Then the G man and I went home and rested up for a bit. Went up to the slopes around 11:45 and met Benn. Of course my first run was the Headwall. No such thing as starting small or anything. Then we went on to to the North Face and a couple other things I probably shouldn't have skiied, but don't tell the baby. I had a ball. Went back at 3 and am currently digesting a New York-sized burrito. This place rules.

(Ok - Benn again) This first shot is the view from our driveway and also the living room.

This is at the top of the Headwall - a sustained 50 degree pitch that rolls out of sight from the top.

And finally Gibson at play on the outskirts of town with Red Lady Bowl in the background (a backcountry ski descent I'll be doing soon).

Living the Dream

2006-01-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

First day of my new routine. Woke early and took Gibson out to play. The wind was wicked and the sky was pitch black and cloudy. Afterwards, we cooked some breakfast (pancakes of course).Then I got ready to go skiing. Kim took the day to get used to the altitude so she stayed home to watch Gibson and get some work done. I put on my ski boots and threw my Seth Pistols over my shoulder and walked the two blocks to Clark's Market where I can pick up the free shuttle to the mountain. I got to the mountain just before the lifts opened and slipped into the nonexistent line at the Silver Queen lift. Flew up to the top in no time (high speed detachables are a good thing) and dropped down to the High Lift t-bar. I figured my first run at CB should be something marked "Extreme Terrain" so I sidestepped up to the top of the Headwall and cranked out a bunch of turns down some 50 degree chute. Very cool. Basically the rest of my day was much the same with lots of trips to the two t-bars that access the extremes. I only dropped one small 10 footer today as the snow was a little hard and there are lots of exposed rocks. I did get one sick straightline in out in Teocalli Bowl which definitely satisfied my afternoon adrenal jones. Ok, enough skiing details.

I took the bus back to town and found the house empty. I guess Kim met up with a neighbor who has a lab puppy named Bode and he and Gibson were off playing in the part of town called the Poop Loop. She didn't have the camera with her but here are a couple of shots she took downtown.

We've arrived

2006-01-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

After 2100 miles and 33 hours of driving we have finally pulled in to Crested Butte and unloaded the truck. The town is incredible with amazing views of the ski area (I'll post a picture from our window shortly) and is very laid back. The house exceeded our expectations and Gibson is thrilled with his new digs. Anyway, I'll just sign off with a few things we learned on our drive out.

Most of the country is really flat and brown

Napolean Dynamite is most likely not fiction

There are a lot of trucks on highway 80

Gibson likes to eat horsecrap

Heading Out

2006-01-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

It looks like we may leave a little early and try to get some miles under our belt tonight. See everyone in a few weeks.

Our new digs

2006-01-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know too much about the town of Crested Butte other than it definitely doesn't suck as much as {insert any town in CT}. Here is a link to the house Kim and I rented for Gibson to hang out in.

Whiterock Ave. Home

Our real estate agent, Kira, has been great and if anyone ever wants to head out to CB I would highly recommend her.

I guess it is near shopping, nightlife, etc..., and also very close to the trail system and backcountry access. There is a free shuttle to the ski area so we can pretty much park the car for the next few weeks which makes me happy.

The countdown starts

2006-01-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

I am not even halfway through my second to last day and I can hardly contain myself. Mostly I've checked and rechecked the avy and resort snow reports and thought about what kind of wax to bring. I couldn't tell you whether the market is up or down but go ahead and ask me about the location of any faceted or wind loaded layers in the Colorado snowpack.

The skiing is starting to get very good in CB right now as almost the entire intermountain West has been getting hammered. Hopefully the pattern persists and we get some really excellent turns in over the next few weeks. I think high pressure might be moving into the region and that always gives me pause. Although sunny clear weather makes for some pleasant skiing, too much sun really ruins the surface and sets up a potential sliding layer. I'll take whiteout conditions and a 2 inch an hour pukefest over clear sunny skies any day.

Oh well, we've got to get through the 30+ hr drive before I fill my head with snow conditions.

Gibson is really excited

2006-01-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

So here is a picture of Gibson as he gets totally amped before we head out to Crested Butte on Friday.